Flora of North America species comparison

1–5+, ascending to erect (grayish brown to brown), moderately to densely hairy.

1, ascending to erect (straight), bluish yellowish green, often red-tinged, ± succulent, glabrous.

(light grayish green) firm, margins entire, strigose, apices ± spine-tipped;

basal withering by flowering, sessile, blades oblanceolate, 10–40 × 3–10 mm, bases attenuate, margins usually entire, rarely remotely serrate, scabrous, apices acute to obtuse, rounded to mucronulate-spinose, faces glabrate to moderately strigose;

proximal cauline sessile, blades linear oblanceolate to oblong, 10–40(–60) × 1.5–4(–7) mm, reduced distally, bases cuneate, margins entire, coarsely ciliate, apices acute or obtuse, faces sparsely to densely appressed hispido-strigose;

distal sessile, blades linear-oblong to linear-lanceolate, 25–45 × 2–3 mm, bases cuneate, margins entire, apices acute, faces moderately to densely strigose.

bluish (green) thin, sometimes ± fleshy, margins usually entire, sometimes serrulate, strigoso-ciliate to scabrous, midribs conspicuous, apices acute to short-acuminate, faces glabrous;

basal withering by flowering, petiolate, blades spatulate, 15–205 × 1.5–9 mm, bases attenuate;

proximal cauline usually withering by flowering (with clusters of smaller leaves in axils, often elongating into branches);

cauline sessile, blades linear-oblanceolate, (10–)30–80(–150) × 1–4(–9) mm, gradually reduced distally, bases slightly dilated and clasping to rounded.

0.2–4 cm, densely hairy, bracts 1–3+, linear to lanceolate, densely hairy.

campanulate, (4.5–)5–8 mm.

narrowly campanulate, 5–7(–11) mm.

(15–)20–35;

corollas usually white, sometimes blue or pink, laminae (8–)18–30 × 1.1–1.4 mm.

0.

75–95+ in 4–5+ series;

laminae 0 (corolla tubes ± 2 mm, shorter than style branches).

(8–)18–30;

corollas yellow becoming brown, 2–2.5 mm, lobes triangular, 0.7–1.2 mm, glabrous.

± 14;

corollas whitish turning pink, ± ampliate, tubes slender, longer than narrowly funnelform limbs, 3.5–5 mm, lobes narrowly triangular, ± 0.2 mm.

in 3–4 series, outer oblanceolate to spatulate (1.5–2 mm), inner linear-lanceolate (3–4 mm), unequal, bases (whitish to tan) ± indurate in basal 1/2–3/4, margins hyaline, scabrous proximally, green zones diamond-shaped, in distal 1/4–1/2, apices (outer) acute to obtuse, clear spine-tipped, spreading to reflexed, (inner) acuminate to attenuate, faces sparsely to moderately hispid-strigose.

in 3–4 series, loose, linear to narrowly oblanceolate, subequal or outer sometimes longer, bases scarious, margins narrowly scarious proximally (outer), scabrous, green zones foliaceous (outer and mid) to lanceolate (inner), apices acute (rarely obtuse), mucronulate, faces glabrous.

[(1–)10–200+] in racemiform to diffuse-paniculiform arrays (1–10+ per branch, usually not crowded).

(disciform) in ± dense, narrow to pyramidal, paniculiform to racemiform arrays, branches decumbent (proximal) to ascending (distal);

peduncles 0–1 cm, glabrous, bracts linear-lanceolate to linear, crowding heads.

dark brown, obovoid, not compressed, 2–2.5 mm, faint-nerved, faces densely strigose;

pappi whitish, 4.5–6 mm.

purple or grayish with purple streaks, obovoid to oblong-obovoid, ± compressed, 1.5–2.5 mm, 2–4-nerved (faint), faces hirsuto-strigose;

pappi white or pinkish, 4–6 mm.

= 14.